


Face The Music

by musikat18



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: AND CUTE SHIT, And Music, F/M, Fluff, Like a creative confession, featuring SCIENCE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 07:11:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16849495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musikat18/pseuds/musikat18
Summary: You've caught Bones' eye and ear with your musical hobbies, quirks, and research. Now if only he could articulate that to you.





	Face The Music

There was something in the air on the bridge that Bones hadn’t really noticed before, which surprised him. For spending an inordinate amount of time breathing down Jim’s neck about safety on the job while on the bridge, he thought he’d noticed every little thing about the bridge-- the hum of the computers, the chatter between officers as they worked...this, though. This was completely unfamiliar.

_ “Dans un sommeil que charmait ton image….” _

It wasn’t really a hum, but it might as well have been, with how soft the unfamiliar language was. He moved discreetly around the bridge, hoping to locate where it was coming from-- sure enough, it was near Uhura’s station. 

“Was that you, Uhura?” he asked, making the lieutenant turn in confusion.

“Was what me?”

“I just thought I heard music from over here. It sounded good. Do all comms officers sound like that, or do you just use music to focus?”

Nyota shook her head, ponytail swishing behind her, “It wasn’t me. Y/N?”

Bones was definitely sure he hadn’t spent enough time on the bridge, because if he had, he would have remembered the prettiest comms red he’d ever seen in his Starfleet career.

“Nope...no idea where that came from,” you said, attention parted between the doctor and your station. “Though, I guess I can answer your question about comms officers, at least from my point of view. I mean, I like having music to focus. It’s why I keep these around for slow days,” you held up a pair of wireless earpieces. “They connect to my PADD and I can listen while I’m working...if there’s nothing too pressing, sir.”

“Hm...thanks, uh…?” he felt rude not attributing the information to your name.

“Lieutenant Y/L/N.”

“I brought her up here as an extra hand,” Uhura jumped back in. “We took a lot of our comms courses together at the Academy, she really knows what she’s talking about. Her thesis was actually on links between xenoneurology and audiology in cognitive study.” 

“Impressive,” Bones bounced, hands folded behind him. “Even I try to stay away from brain stuff, when I can.”

“It wasn’t nearly anything special,” you smiled shyly, “I assure you.”

“No research is worthless, Lieutenant,” he said. Not untrue, in his opinion, though not how he would have liked to have spoken about a thesis he hadn’t even read. “Guess I should go back to making sure Jim doesn’t spontaneously combust, then.”

As the doctor wandered away from your station, you let out a soft breath.

“You know, I always thought you’d react a little more pleasantly to being praised in both research and talent by one of Starfleet’s hardest-to-please crewmen,” Nyota laughed. You rolled your eyes.

“Considering Dr. McCoy and I have no real reason to talk, I just didn’t think it mattered. Besides, do you know how embarrassing it is to get caught singing on the job?”

“You know I do,” she smiled, “but I’ve never seen him so...not completely murderous before.”

“There’s a first time for everything, Nyota,” you reminded her. “I’m sure he’ll be back to his grumpy old self, soon. Far, far away from my voice.”

“You sound lovely,” she chastised you. “Don’t be afraid of it.”

“Says someone with the actual voice of an angel.”

“Pot, kettle,” she smiled. “Besides, I’m not multitalented like you are.”

You shook your head, but you had a smile on your face, and you allowed yourself one little look over your shoulder to see if the doctor was still there; he seemed to have returned to medbay.

Part-relieved and part-disappointed, you continued humming your familiar tune.

\--

The smooth timbor of notes filled your quarters as your fingers nimbly danced across your saxophone. You may not have had a lot of opportunity to work with it, anymore, (seeing as it was a little less portable than your larynx and lungs) but you still enjoyed playing every now and again. 

You paused only a moment as the page moved along on your PADD, breathing in perfect time with the rests and the tempo. If you were going to be on that stressful bridge all day, after all, a practice in controlled breath seemed like a good idea. When the song was done, you sat back from your perch on your chair, satisfied with your solid (if rusty) performance.

And then you heard the knock at your door.

“Shit!” you said, quickly placing your saxophone back in your small closet space. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.”

When you opened the door, you leaned on the frame casually in hopes that you looked like you didn’t just hide one of your favorite pastimes (a thought that made you wince a little). To your surprise, there was a very tall, very handsome doctor on the other side.

“Doctor McCoy,” you greeted. “How may I help you?”

The doctor did that funny little bounce again, “Oh, nothing special. I was just wondering if that music was coming from in here.”

You blessed your prior research on the uses of inflection as you casually half-lied, “Oh, yes. Music for the focus. I don’t just use it for work, after all.”

“Yes, I figured you wouldn’t,” he nodded, quickly clarifying, “wouldn’t only use it for work, I mean. You probably use music to focus on all kinds of things.”

You stifled a laugh, “Yes, it’s my understanding that auditory association is just as effective as taste association. In my research, at least.”

“I know. I read your thesis. Lots of good stuff in there.”

You took a second to look down under the pretense of checking how clean your boots were (even though in reality you were just feeling bashful under the doctor’s whiskey gaze), “Thank you, Doctor. That’s quite the compliment, coming from you.”

“Yeah, I’d love to hear more about your research, sometime. I understand you’re primarily in audiological research instead of comm operations.”

“Yes, I am,” you nodded, laughing a little. “Did you get that from all my theses?”

He cleared up what you assumed was something in his throat, “...A little. I might have asked around after reading.”

To have the interest of anyone onboard would have been a miracle, but there was something about the doctor’s attentions that made you feel a little shyer than usual. “Well, the rumors are true. I spend about the same amount of time in blue as I do in red. I’ve got the uniforms to prove it.” 

“Blue’s a good color,” he said. Be still your heart-- he actually grinned at you. Nyota would never believe it. “Well, if you’re looking to talk about your work, let me know sometime.”

“Sure,” you nodded. “Thank you, doctor.” 

He showed himself out, and you were almost more excited about the conversation you’d just had than the excellent saxophone practice not a moment before he came in.

-

You felt more than a little miffed as you sat down in your lab space. Granted, you had felt miffed all day, but it had really been starting to set in after you had been straight up ignored.

He was busy, you were sure. But he certainly hadn’t been when you’d tried to speak with him.

You took a breath as you set up your equipment, deciding it would be best to not be completely pissy while operating auditory measurement equipment.

_“Ah si mon moine voulait danser…”_ you sang quietly under your breath, hoping the jaunty tune would lift your spirits. It did, for the most part, and you had most of your equipment hooked up when Nyota came in.

“So, do you want to tell me why Geoffrey was talking with Christine about why McCoy decided to lock himself in his office grumbling a little more than usual?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” you huffed. “For someone so interested in my work, he seems rather evasive. Mixed signals, and all that. It doesn’t really sit well with me. ...Actually, it hasn’t for the last few weeks.”

“He’s abrasive, but not avoidant. Usually a lot more direct, actually. What happened?”

You swiveled on your stool as you sighed, “He said he was really interested in my work...liked that thesis I wrote. He seemed willing to talk about it a while ago, but every time I try, he makes up these fakey reasons not to talk about it. It’s been getting kind of frustrating for him to lie to my face. ...I might have...boiled over a little bit…earlier….”

Her eyebrows shot up, “Wow, and no scolding? He must like you or something.”

“Well, he has a funny way of showing it if he does,” you grumbled. “He told me my research was relevant to one of his medical studies, and now he’s acting like I’m one of the viruses they have stored up in the medbay for study!”

“At least he seems to feel kind of bad about it,” she offered. “Chris says he’s been in a sour mood.”

“If the captain is to be believed, he’s always in a sour mood.”

“More than usual,” she corrected. “Besides, Captain Kirk is Captain Kirk. He makes Doctor McCoy sour for all kinds of different reasons.”

Your shoulders sagged, “I just...if my work is worth something, I want to feel like it’s worth something. It’s like he was just trying to be nice...if it’s contradictory and flawed, I would rather he just come out and say it…. I don’t want all this work I’ve been continuing onboard to be worthless.”

She smiled kindly, “Let me talk to him about it. I’ll swing by his office after you finish up with me.”

_Bless Nyota and her kindness,_ you thought with a smile. 

“Thanks. Just put on that headset and I’ll start hooking up the monitors.”

-

McCoy had just finished lightly banging his head against his desk when his comm beeped. Seeing that it wasn’t Jim again, he set aside his self-loathing and answered, “McCoy.”

“Leonard, Nyota’s here and headed your way,” Chris warned on the other end. “She’s pissed and no one can stop her.”

Oh god, he was actually going to die.

“Thanks for the warning, Chapel,” he said. “Still have that copy of my will?”

“On hand now.”

“Nice knowing you.”

Not a moment later, the comms officer stood firm in the threshold of his office, looking unusually placid.

He knew the kind of ice Lieutenant Uhura could spit when one of her friends had been harmed. He was not eager to be on the receiving end.

“McCoy,” she nodded. “How’s Y/L/N?” 

He coughed a little, “Haven’t had much chance to talk to her, lately.”

“That’s funny. She said she tried to talk to you earlier, and you apparently told her you would be busy checking the papers in your paperless office.”

Bones blanched. Not that he would have expected Nyota-- and Y/N, to boot-- not to catch him in his lie (Jim’s advice, to be fair), but he had kind of hoped it would have taken a little longer.

“I just...I think...I’m sure she’s busy. I don’t want to intrude on her research.”

Nyota put her hands on her hips, “Look, I can’t know what you said to her about her work, but she really appreciated your interest in it. Now she’s worried that you were just trying to be nice. I just want to figure out what’s going on so she doesn’t give up on it altogether. I know how hard she’s been working on it.”

“See, the thing is,” Bones took a long sip of his third cup of coffee, “I think...it might be different...if her research was the only...interesting thing about her.”

The comms officer furrowed her brow, “What do you…” The creases in her forehead smoothed out as her eyebrows sprung up, “Are you trying to say you like her?”

“You don’t have to act so surprised,” he grumbled. “It’s not that big a deal if you don’t make it one.” 

“I didn’t realize,” she said, softening her tone. “I know you haven’t really had the best experience with romance in the past, but why act like this when it’s hurting her?”

“Thought it would be better if I stayed away,” he scratched the back of his neck. “Guess that’s not working out as well as I’d hoped.” 

Nyota turned her frown down to the side. Of course he would be hesitant about this. She wasn’t unfamiliar with the doctor’s unlucky-in-love reputation, but to get your hopes up only to back out immediately after? That was just a poorly-calculated and unfair move.

“I guess the real question is, what are you going to do about it now?”

McCoy shifted in his desk chair before he turned to stand, pacing a little as he often did when formulating an idea.

“Her thesis…” he began slowly. “Where did she get all the instrumental sound samples she ran her experiment with?”

“Well,” Nyota looked to the side, “mostly the other students in the Academy Music Club. She wanted samples of music from all kinds of different Federation cultures to see if there was any variation, of course...the only ones she recorded herself were the Earth reed and Earth vocal samples.”

McCoy’s eyebrows quirked in that funny way they did, “Really?” He opened his PADD back open to his copy of the thesis, scrolling through the audio samples to ‘Earth reed’ and ‘Earth vocal.’ As each clip played through, he smiled at the passion and talent behind the sound.

“She’s incredible,” he said softly. “...I fucked up, didn’t I?”

“Little bit,” Nyota shrugged. She was still for a moment, before she smiled genuinely, “but I think I know how you can fix it.”

-

You didn’t think much of the swishing door of your lab; you were too busy running the results of your latest tests in comparison to your thesis experiment. 

“Lieutenant Y/L/N?”

Well, you hadn’t been thinking that much of it until you realized it was the doctor who had been avoiding you for a good few weeks.

“Doctor McCoy,” you turned and nodded simply, “to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”

“I wanted to say, first and foremost, that I do value your research,” he said. “It’s sound and well-done, and I can’t think of anyone outside maybe Spock who’s been so thorough and dedicated to their clearly solid hypothesis.”

You stood there, mouth agape. 

“...A simple ‘you did good’ might have sufficed,” you said after a moment. You wished his sincerity hadn’t made you flutter, since he’d spent so long blatantly working to avoid you.

“I know that,” he rubbed the back of his neck, “but I know I made an ass of myself, acting the way I did. Uhura...was very clear that you were offended, and that wasn’t my intention at all.”

You shoved your face in your hands, “Oh, god, I thought she was just going to ask you what times you might actually be available to talk.”

“She was right, though,” he admitted. “It was rude of me. So I looked through your research, and I think it’s all great...though I think you missed out on an important sample kind of early.”

You blinked, “Sorry?”

“I mean,” he coughed awkwardly, “you did have an Earth vocal sample, though you didn’t account for possible differences in cadence and tone between upper range and lower range Earth voices.”

“...Oh,” you said, feeling a bit chastened. “I guess I wasn’t thinking about it at the time….”

McCoy passed you a small chip, “I had this made for you...to use in research and stuff.”

“Really?” you beamed with relief at the small gift. “That’s very kind of you, Doctor. Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he dipped his head. “Just...let me know if you need anything else. I’ll be sure to be there this time.”

As McCoy turned from your lab, you smiled and turned over the small device in your hands, feeling squishy at the small, scrawly signed label on the side of the drive.

_ Yours truly, Leonard. _

-

“Thanks for your help, Captain,” you said as you welcomed the blond-haired senior officer into your lab. “I greatly appreciate you volunteering to help me retry some of these initial trials.”

“Jim, please,” he gave you an amicable smile. “I’d be happy to help. I’ve heard lots of good things about your work.”

“From Doctor McCoy, I assume?” you laughed. “Apparently he’s become a big fan of my work.”

The captain chuckled, “Something like that.”

You passed the headset over to the captain as he sat down, and you placed the monitors on his skin once he placed the headset over his ears.

“Can you still hear me?” you asked. 

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Okay, so I’m going to play a series of minute-long music samples, from a variety of different instruments and a variety of different cultures,” you explained. “I may pause between a few and ask for a verbal statement on how the clip affected your mood, but most of the information I need will be picked up by those monitors. Sound good?”

He gave you a thumbs up, and you nodded, playing through the first clip: _Earth vocal, upper tessitura._

You watched carefully as the mapping of the captain’s brain lit up in different colors at different times, seeming consistent enough with the first trials of human males you had ran. You tapped along with your stylus to your voice, ringing loud and clear for you to listen to and monitor what parts of his brain spiked when. 

“This next sample is the new one,” you told Jim once the first minute was up. He nodded, and you queued the next clip: _Earth vocal, lower tessitura._ The sound clip was a little longer than a minute, but you were sure the reactions would settle at about 45 seconds like the others had before.

What happened next was not what you expected...at all.

_“Hi, Y/N,”_ McCoy’s deep Southern drawl came from the speakers. _“I guess you’re wondering why I’m not singing by now-- well, I’m terrible, actually, and you don’t want to hear that. I don’t want you to hear that, either, considering you sound like a damn angel...anyway, that’s not really what I wanted to talk about.”_

“Is that Bones?” The captain asked. You were stunned, still reeling from the surprise of the doctor’s message.

_ “I talked a lot to Uhura before I did this, mostly because I wasn’t really sure how you’d react after I was such an ass for ignoring you like that. We both kind of decided that it was more important that I face the music-- so to speak, I guess, her words, not mine-- and tell you the truth. _

_ “I was avoiding you because I...recently realized that I might have feelings for you...not just in a professional way. I thought you would be offended, got cold feet, and decided it would be better to forget the matter of you and your research because I didn’t want to scare you off. Well, that turned out to be really dumb, and I’m sorry. _

_ “I thought a lot about just telling your straight to your face, but...how do I put this...I’m still trying to get back on the horse on this whole dating thing. I’m still trying to figure out what it means to put myself out there. So, I decided to put myself out there by putting myself on this tape. You don’t have to say anything. It actually might be better if you decided to just forget about all of this…” _

Your heart broke for how discouraged he sounded.

_ “...but I like you. Probably more than I deserve. So I just wanted you to know.” _

There was a long, pregnant pause when the recording ended. You hadn’t even looked up from the ‘play’ button on your PADD when he’d started speaking. 

He liked you. He liked you, and he wanted to proceed with things. He liked you.

“...You should probably go talk to him?”

Your head snapped up at the captain’s sincere words, breaking you from your thoughts.

Without another word, you put your stylus and PADD down and took off for the turbolift.

-

McCoy hadn’t remembered being antsy like this in a long time. 

_This was a dumb idea_ , he thought. _She’ll never ever listen to that tape and think-_

“Sir, redshirt incoming,” one of the nurses called. McCoy turned and prepared for whatever scatter-brained engineer was going to be brought in, but to his surprised, you ran in the medbay doors, slowing only to scan the usual muted chaos for something.

“Y/N?” he furrowed his brow as your eyes fell on him. You continued your rush, moving towards him with purpose.

To his complete and utter surprise, you proceeded to grab him by the shirt and pulled his lips down to yours. 

It took him a moment to realize he hadn’t fallen asleep in his office, but once he decided this was actually happening to him, he reciprocated quickly, cradling your cheek with one hand and holding the small of your back with the other. 

For lack of a better term, it felt like the perfect harmony.

“...I take it you got my message,” he said, still looking a little dazed once you separated.

“I did,” you nodded, tilting your head sheepishly, “...so did the captain.”

McCoy groaned and hung his head, his cheeks matching your uniform, “Dammit...he’s never gonna let me hear the end of that.” 

“I thought it was sweet,” you cupped his cheek, making him look at you, “although, you probably could have given me a heads-up that that file might have been something I listen to before queueing it up in a new series of tests.”

“Yeah,” he scrubbed a hand over his face, “I’ll take that one.”

“Anyway, would you like to meet for dinner in the mess after shift?”

There was nothing but relief and happiness in his whiskey eyes, “Dinner sounds perfect, darlin’.”

“Great,” you smoothed out his uniform shirt, remembering that you were both standing in the middle of medbay when you’d practically pounced on the chief medical officer. “I’ll see you later.”

McCoy waved you off with a rare public smile, eyes following you out until he felt familiar eyes on his back.

“What?” he frowned at Christine.

“I didn’t say anything,” she smirked. “Though, you may want to explain what just happened to the captain, now that he’s here.”

Bones should have been sour about the ribbing he was going to get, but there were far more sweet things on his mind.


End file.
